Saturday and Sunday marked the last weekend for anglers to fish at Bennett Spring before catch-and-keep trout fishing begins on March 1.

More than 200 people were at Bennett Spring Saturday morning before 11 a.m. hoping to catch one last fish, enjoying the out-of-season warm weather, and taking a break from work.

“I think I speak for everyone when I say this is way better than work,” said Wade Reed from California, Mo. “I caught one fish here this morning, but I haven’t been that lucky since.”

Reed spent most of his morning around Zone 1. Like the other anglers in this area who arrived early, one fish every two hours seemed to be the limit.

“I figured it would be easy to catch some this morning. A few other guys said they’ve only caught one too. Maybe we all caught the same fish? I’m sure it’s happened before. I can’t complain. There isn’t that many people here. A few, but not like it will in March,” Reed said.

Between 9 and 10 a.m. Saturday, there was about one angler per 15 yards in the stream. As breakfast time turned into lunch, the number of anglers looked to have doubled, just as Hatchery Manager Ben Havens predicted on Friday.

For the complete article, see Monday's print edition of The Daily Record, or view the e-Editiononline.